The amnesty is associated with the forgiveness of criminal responsibility.
Amnesty is the elimination of criminal responsibility for a crime . This legal action is usually carried out by the Legislative Branch and affects various people who, previously, had been considered guilty of a violation of the law .
It is important to distinguish between amnesty and pardon . Pardon is also a resource that extinguishes criminal responsibility, but the perpetrator of the crime is still considered guilty. That is, the pardon only forgives the fulfillment of the sentence.
The amnesty, on the other hand, is applied to the crime itself (the crime is forgiven, not the penalty). This means that the amnesty achieves the extinction of civil or criminal liability and erases the record . The amnesty can also generate retroactive consequences.
Controversy around the amnesty
These characteristics of the amnesty make this tool controversial. For many, amnesty can go beyond forgiveness and become a path to impunity .
The usual thing is that amnesty is decreed in instances of political or social change, implying the forgiveness of crimes committed in a past regime.
The defense of freedom of expression is one of the missions of Amnesty International.
An NGO of global relevance
Amnesty International , on the other hand, is a non-governmental organization that fights for the defense of human rights. The British lawyer Peter Benenson (1921-2005) was the founder of this NGO in 1961 and its fundamental objective is to advocate for all human rights, recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by many nations in 1948 , throughout from all over the globe.
The headquarters of this institution is located in London, the current Secretary General is called Agnès Callamard and there are more than 3 million activists spread across around 150 countries.
It was founded on October 1, 1962 with the purpose of publicizing cases of non-compliance with human rights and drawing attention to the abuses that are committed daily around the world; They also carry out various campaigns to enforce compliance with international laws that are related to these rights.
It should be noted that it is one of the main organizations that pressures governments and raises awareness among people in favor of freedom and the legal consideration of all human existences.
Objectives of Amnesty International
Among the objectives of Amnesty International (which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 ), are the implementation of fair judicial processes, aid to exiled people, the elimination of torture, the reporting of disappearances and the freedom of prisoners. of conscience.
Some of AI 's tasks are to obtain the release and demand fair trials for political prisoners (imprisoned for having used their freedom of expression by publicly stating their beliefs or thoughts), abolish all types of torture or punishment that denigrates prisoners, fight against systems that use murders and disappearances to achieve respect, assist exiles and abolish the death penalty and denounce conscious killings and any similar act that puts the life of another or other human beings at risk .
Through various investigations and the undertaking of legal actions to fight against abuses of any kind, whether civil, political, social, economic or cultural, they ask for justice for those who have been victims.
With regard to human rights, it is one of the most internationally prestigious organizations, whose work is real and sets the foundations for the work of all other organizations that work towards the defense of human rights.